Researchers examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over
20 years ending in 2004 and found that the percentage of oral cancer
linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, surged to 72 percent from
about 16 percent, according to a report released yesterday in the
Journal of Clinical Oncology. By 2020, the virus-linked throat tumors --
which mostly affected men -- will become more common than HPV-caused
cervical cancer, the report found.

. . . Until recently, head
and neck cancer mainly occurred in older patients and was associated
with tobacco and alcohol use. The HPV-linked head and neck cancers,
usually of the tonsils, palate or tongue, hit men their 30s, 40s, and
50s, Gillison said. It is unclear why women are affected much less often
than men, she said.

. . . In a 2007 epidemiology study published
in the New England Journal of Medicine, Gillison and her colleagues
found that having a high number of oral or vaginal sex partners are risk
factors for HPV-associated throat cancer. The cancer may also be spread
by open-mouth kissing, Gillison said in the interview.
"Nobody paid attention to oral HPV infections until 2007," she said. "We
are about 15 years behind in the research" compared with the data on
cervical cancer and HPV, she said.

The most troubling
thing for me is that I imagine that this is going to be harder to detect
than cervical cancer. (ENTs and cancer docs, please feel free to
correct me). As an OB-GYN said to me, "HPV just loves the cervix",
which means that as long as you're getting regular pap smears, the
doctor is very, very likely to catch a genital infection before it turns
into terminal cancer. (I don't mean to imply that the treatments are
no big deal, because they aren't--they range from uncomfortable to
excruciating and can mean infertility. But they're still preferable to
being dead.)

But the throat's got a lot of
stuff in there, a lot of nooks and crannies where HPV could hide--can we
catch potentially cancerous oral infections the way we do when they're
in the reproductive tract?

The other question I have
is whether this is going to change the terms of the debate around HPV
vaccines. Me, I figure if we can possibly wipe out a virus that gives
people cancer, we should do our very damndest. Regardless of how the
cancer is contracted. But from the extremely emotional response I got
when I blogged about Gardasil a few weeks ago, this is obviously not the
universal view.

ABOUT ME

I am a writer, film maker, artist, and non vax / natural immunity advocate. I am a vegetarian and supporter of human rights for all. I am a bit of a smart ass, and I have a very strange sense of humour. Currently I am working on a non vax / natural immunity / vaccine injury documentary called "SPOTTING THE TRUTH" and I run a community for people who are non vaxers and supporters of natural immunity on GOOGLE+. I can be contacted by email forcedanarchy@gmail.com or on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or GOOGLE+